->"''I wisely started with a map and made the story fit... the other way about lands one in confusions and impossibilities.''"-->-- '''Creator/JRRTolkien'''

Have a HighFantasy story of a group of heroes traveling the world in order to fulfill their [[TheQuest quest]]? Then you must include a map!

Maps of [[ConstructedWorld fantasy worlds]] have been a feature of {{Fantasy}} books ever since Creator/LFrankBaum's Literature/LandOfOz. A visual reference can be very handy. Often drawn in elaborate script, pointing out the DoomedHometown, TheKingdom, TheEmpire, various {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s, each of the FiveRaces' lands, many of the {{Wacky Wayside Tribe}}s, the dangerous ForbiddenZone ({{Mordor}}) and TheLostWoods. Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'' has a few things to say on the subject of maps, including the fact that if you're on a quest you may expect to visit ''every single place'' [[LawOfConservationOfDetail marked on them]].

Fantasy world maps will often have roughly the proportions of a standard book page so that all the places in the fantasy world can fit conveniently on the map - the LawOfCartographicalElegance. ''Really'' deluxe worlds are proportioned like two pages side by side, thereby indicating they rate a hardcover edition with endpapers. Fantasy world maps sometimes also have a tendency to make it seem as if the world is literally flat.

If the ocean is on the left side of the map, then it's a LeftJustifiedFantasyMap. If the northern regions are cold and the southern regions are warmer, it's NorthIsColdSouthIsHot.

When the map doesn't make any geographical sense, it's a PatchworkMap, though these can be sometimes [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the use of [[AWizardDidIt magic]]. A variation occurs when maps of real places are included in a novel where it helps follow the intrigue.

Sometimes complicated by opaque library book covers that cannot be removed from the book. In that case, there will forever be one side of the map that you cannot see without breaking the book cover, though if you're lucky the map will be on the inside of both the front and back covers, covering up the left and right sides respectively. This may help explain why (with a little monster-powered-by-evil-source-you-are-getting-closer-to-in-order-to-remove Hand Wave explanation) you can't just acquire a boat and kill the sea monster now that the sea storm that it entered by is over.

Also frequent in TabletopGames for gameplay reasons, and, occasionally, in {{anime}} series. For VideoGame sub-tropes, see OverworldNotToScale, PointAndClickMap, and RiskStyleMap.

----!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]* The manga series ''Manga/DragonKnights'' begins to feature a map of the world with each volume starting around the beginning of the arc when the titular Knights split up on different quests.* The map of Amestris and surrounding areas in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' are an important part of the plot later on.** In the very first scene of ''Anime/FullMetalAlchemistBrotherhood'', King Bradley stands next to a bigger, more well-drawn-out version mounted on a wall, as he briefs Colonel Mustang on his mission.* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', during the Magic World arc various maps of the MagicWorld (global, regional and local) get shown, sometimes with the map of Japan superimposed for size comparison purposes. Actually a subversion as [[spoiler:its actually an accurate map of ''Mars'' with oceans filled in]] which you [[GeniusBonus might notice]] early if you know some astronomy.* The original manga version of ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'' has a pull-out map section in each volume. They're surprisingly unhelpful in determining where everything in the AfterTheEnd setting is in relation to the current world.** If you squint a bit, it ''might'' be the southern US and Mexico with parts of Central and South America thrown in, with the coastlines heavily altered by the effects of GlobalWarming and/or nuclear bombardment. There is a region on the map called Utah, [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas which just goes to show that the Mormons are really good at surviving the apocalypse]].* In ''Anime/QueensBlade'', a map of The Continent (the land when the whole story takes place) appears at the beginning of each episode, at least during the first season.* The finale of ''Anime/RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio'' briefly shows a shot of Earth with an approx. Africa-sized extra continent in the middle of the Pacific. Kinda justified since [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial the world has just been destroyed and recreated]].* ''Manga/RaveMaster'' features an impressively vague map, showing little more than the outlines of continents and locations the characters previously visited, on a single page in one volume halfway through the series. Topography is clearly not Mashima Hiro's strong point.* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' occasionally shows a map of the world, especially during the opening.* Perhaps because of its novel origin, ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'' very frequently show the map of the world in order to the situate the action. Also to remind you of what the names of all the countries and cities are, since there are so many to keep track of.* ''Manhwa/VagrantSoldierAres'' has a map of the Kingdom of Chronos and its neighboring kingdoms.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' has had two different maps of the Valley included into the graphic novel editions: the standard map and the one that appears in story that was drawn by a young Thorn (though this one was limited to the earlier volumes).* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' published full-color insert maps of the World of Two Moons (Abode) and its solar system in the 1980s. (They can probably still be found on the ''[=ElfQuest=]'' [[http://www.elfquest.com/ website]].)* The ''ComicBook/MouseGuard'' [=TPBs=] provide the reader with a map of Mouse Territories.* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'' had a [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/resurrection_world_map.jpg map for Résurrection in Volume 4]], which is basically [[BizarroWorld our Earth, but with land and sea reversed]], with several countries positioned in what would be the Atlantic Ocean.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]* Long before the official map of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]] came out, [[http://hlissner.deviantart.com/art/Equestria-and-beyond-rev-8-1-253465186 a particularly epic map]] of Equestria and the surrounding world has been under development for an upcoming fanfic, ''[[http://wtwe.wikia.com/wiki/Where_the_World_Ends_Wiki Where the World Ends]]''. It uses locations that appear in other fan works such as [[FanFic/ItsADangerousBusinessGoingOutYourDoor Gildedale]]. Many of the map's fantasy elements originate in the lore pertaining to the story it's written for. Needless to say, the map is significantly more detailed than the official one. See that small green country near the lower right corner? That's Equestria.** [[http://vikonaut.deviantart.com/art/Map-of-Equestria-MLP-FIM-263695231 Another]] pre-official map shows Equestria and surrounding lands as a [[AFterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] U.S. East Coast. It's nearly as complex and detailed as the one above--Canterlot, Ponyville and Cloudsdale are all rubbing shoulders in a tiny patch of the northwest of the map.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]* In ''Anime/LittleNemoAdventuresInSlumberland'', Flip is the only one who has a map of both Slumberland and Nightmareland. Not only that but he's also the only one who can understand it.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gamebooks]]* In the ''Literature/LoneWolf'' series of solo game books, each book includes a map of the region where it takes place, justified as the protagonist having been given just such a map as part of his starting equipment. How useful such the map is varies tremendously from book to book.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* The original releases of the ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfSamuraiCat'' books featured a map of the areas visited in the book, showing them in relation to each other; they also all including an area labeled 'Vermont,' with a spot marked 'Author's House.'* Each of the ''Literature/AgeOfFire'' books has a map of the region the series takes place in, but each one is varied depending on the book -- for example, Wistala's solo focus book only shows the lands between the Inland Ocean and the Red Mountains, [=AuRon=]'s includes those lands but also spreads further east, and the Copper's shows the underground network of tunnels that form the Lower World, because those are the areas where those books are focused. Also, each map has a series of footnotes marking where key events from that specific book takes place.* Creator/AnneBishop's works:** There are maps in ''Tir Alainn'' and ''Literature/TheOthers'' books which have notes underneath them reading, "This map was created by a geographically challenged author. All distances are whimsical and subject to change without notice."** Inverted in her ''Ephemera'' books: you couldn't draw a map even if you wanted because two different people can end up in two different places by going through the same gate depending on where the "heart resonates" with.* Each book of ''Literature/TheBalancedSword'' has a map of Zarathan in the front, and sometimes also more detailed maps of specific regions visited in that book. Zarathan, which was developed as a setting for roleplaying games as well as novels, was created to be large enough that the heroes have no chance of visiting every place on it, and there's room for multiple epic adventures to be going on simultaneously.* The ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'' is especially symptomatic of the "must visit every places on it" syndrome. David Eddings, in ''The Rivan Codex'', argued that an aspiring quest author needed to draw a map or they'd get lost.** He also mentions that he ''started'' with the map before he wrote a word of the story. Indeed, the map was the inspiration for the story, because he started out doodling a random fantasy map during breakfast with gibberish names for the countries. After cleaning it up a bit, he decided to write a story set in it.*** He also references the first part of the Tolkien quote above regarding this decision, so the comments on this page about Eddings being responsible for the map-first idea are a little off-target.* ''Literature/{{Beyond}}'' features a map of Orbis.* The ''Literature/BooksOfPellinor'' contain a map of Edil-Amarandh.* P.C. Hodgell includes many maps in her ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' series, drawn in a consciously Tolkien-influenced style, as well as plans of many of the cities and fortresses encountered. The most recent book, ''To Ride a Rathorn'', has four pages of maps in the front and eight pages of more detailed maps in the back.* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' also inverts the "map came first" notion of David Eddings, since none of the books included a map until they were first bound together in one {{Doorstopper}}. As a result, as with Pratchett the land and its environs 'grew with the telling' and were all worked out in the text, so that the map could be drawn with great accuracy and even beauty. The gorgeous artwork of Aslan's face must be seen to be believed.* Each of the five books in Lloyd Alexander's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'' features a map at the beginning which is relevant to the plot of the story. Since they take place in different parts of Prydain, the map naturally changes; the map also notes what happens where. It should be noted that this map bears an obvious resemblance to that of Wales, though "Prydain is not Wales--[[FantasyCounterpartCulture not entirely, at least.]]"* The map of The Land in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' is quite necessary, both because it was reshaped by past events and because much changes amongst the inhabitants in the considerable time that passes between Covenant's visits. Unfortunately, it can be only partially legible in the cheaply printed paperback editions.* Creator/TamoraPierce's ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' series has its own map showing the location of Winding Circle Temple as relative to nearby cities, but not a perhaps more useful map of Winding Circle ''itself.'' The ''Circle Opens'' quartet each have a map of the city they take place in as well, and ''The Will of the Empress'' has a map, although not a very detailed one, of Sandry's home country of Namorn.** Her Literature/TortallUniverse also has maps. It's remained largely consistent--starting with Tortall and its immediate land neighbors, then adding entries as the setting expanded and the plot took characters to more places. There are also smaller maps if the story's setting is in one place, e.g. the Corus city map in ''Literature/ProvostsDog''.* Each book in the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' contains a stylized map of Alera itself and parts of its surrounding lands.* Robert E. Howard included a map with the ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' stories, though given Howard's rather slam-bang style of world-building, it wasn't so much a physical map as a series of political borders. It's mentioned at one point in "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword," where King Conan adds the northern lands where he came from to the maps of the Aquilonian court.* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' eventually had several maps made of it, as did the city of Ankh-Morpork within, even though Pterry said that he never envisioned a map of any kind when writing. (Some of the earlier publications even have quotes from him explicitly stating that "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humor.")** Pratchett has stated that he purposely avoided making a map of Ankh-Morpork until the publication of the Discworld Mappe, ostensibly because the city's layout changes so often that it would be ''impossible'' to keep an accurate map. However, he now plots Ankh-Morpork stories with the help of both the map and the limited-edition 3D model of Unseen University. In ''Night Watch'', during the rooftop standoff at the beginning of the book, all the sight-lines are purportedly consistent with the model.** He's since said that the problem with most fantasy maps is they seem to have come ''first'' (*coughEddingscough*). Ankh-Morpork and Lancre were made up as he went along, just like real places are (well, ''more or less'' like real places are made), and ''then'' Stephen Briggs came along and measured everything up, once it all "existed" sufficiently to be mapped.*** He's also said that he didn't think about how Anhk-Morpork would map out, but that apparently his subconscious was helping him out, because it does, in fact, map out neatly and logically (for a given value of ''logically'', admittedly).** Fans who have studied the Discworld Mapp in detail and/or used it for plotting fanfic have pointed out ''lots'' of inconsistencies and scale problems. Rehigreed, noted as a province of Agatea, is as far away as you can possibly get from the Agatean mainland; Lancre is far too near Ankh-Morpork; the Central Continent appears too big and Howondaland is far too small; Genua appears to be further away from A-M than stated in the text; and so on. Since the name "C.M.O.T. Dibbler" appears on the map, there is of course a [[WatsonianVsDoylist Watsonian]] explanation.** ''Discworld/RaisingSteam'' eventually did the classic map-in-the-endpapers format, with a railway map of the Sto Plains and surrounding lands.* Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' series has a map showing various parts of the archipelago. Certain editions will include close-ups on the map when the characters are spending time in that particular reach (very very useful!)* ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eragon]]'' has a map. It's even drawn by the author.* ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'' by Creator/VernorVinge. While a science fiction novel, it has a map of the galaxy done in fantasy style. It includes a delineation of the "Zones of Thought", which regulate FTL travel, as well as the path the protagonists' ship takes.* The former page quote (now on the [[Quotes/FantasyWorldMap quotes page]]) from ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'' trilogy is spoken by a character reading a fantasy novel (''in'' a bleedin' fantasy novel) as a not so subtle TakeThat to the entire trope. (Or, possibly, to ''Lord of the Rings'').** Definitely to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. "There And Back Again" is the in-setting name for ''Literature/TheHobbit''.* Le Guin's more recent YA series, of which the first is entitled ''Gifts,'' also has such a map, but notably the characters in ''Gifts'' only ever occupy a small upper-right hand corner of the map. Presumably they'll venture forth in the sequels.** They do, but in ''Voices'' the action is confined to the bottom left-hand corner, so there's a city map as well. In ''Powers'' there's much more travelling, but no map at all in the British edition (not even a reprint of the large map from the first two books).* Most of Creator/HarryTurtledove's AlternateHistory novels include world maps showing the political layout of the book's timeline.** This is common in AlternateHistory, as it's a helpful way of letting the reader know exactly how the world is different in the novel's timeline. ''Literature/{{Fatherland}}'', to quote one other example, has both a map of the Nazi-dominated Europe and a map of the central district of Berlin as it would have been had Albert Speer got his opportunity to rebuild the city in his and Hitler's image.** Not really needed in his Fantastic Civil War series, which is just a retelling of the ACW in the west from Chickamauga on. Once you realize that the directions are reversed and all the place and character names are replaced by groanworthy literary references and puns, you can follow along with a real guide to the campaigns at hand. Selma, Alabama, for example, is renamed [[Creator/SalmaHayek Hayek]], and General Rosecrans is renamed [[{{Theatre/Hamlet}} Guildenstern]].* The doorstopper version of the ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' duology includes a map, which is justified, as there is quite a lot of talking about taking a ship or the land route, and discussions of whether the enemy is good enough at geography to know that this or that distance is too far to get there in a certain period of time. The map only takes up one page, which is relatively small, compared to the LOTR map.* ''Literature/TheKaturranOdyssey'' has a rather elaborate map of Katurra on the endpapers, modelled rather creatively with [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals basilosaur]] HereBeDragons and with monkeys on the edges representing the FourElements (albeit rather randomly). The story locations have rather random distances, [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale unfortunately]].* ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' has them, despite it being basically Europe & North Africa with names making the FantasyCounterpartCulture even more obvious.* The map of the Literature/LandOfOz is one of the earliest examples of this trope. Since each succeeding book visited a different part of Oz or its environs, the map got an annual update with the release of each new book. Unfortunately, Baum messed up the map's directions, putting West and East on the wrong sides of the map. (While this was corrected in later books, devout ''Oz'' fans [[FanonDiscontinuity still embrace the swap]]; for example, in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''The Number Of The Beast'' the world-jumping main characters use this feature to confirm that Oz really is Oz when they visit it.) The unique colors of the map of Oz forms the basis for the flag of Oz.** This was once explained in-universe as inadvertent copying from one of Prof. H.M. Wogglebug, T.E.'s magic lantern slides that happened to be flipped.** The simplest solution seems to be reversing the compass needle itself: the Munchkins should be in the East, colored Blue, but the flag (which reflects the four quadrants of the land) has Blue on the left. Hence make East point left and West point right.** Related to, inspired by, and roughly resembling this map is the one included in ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'' and the books that follow it. As in the Oz example, the maps change focus and are updated with each volume.* The ''Literature/MagicKingdomOfLandover'' series has a map of Landover.* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' likewise has several, although it's not always clear how the different continents relate to each other.** A fan (and troper) created a map showing the continents in several different configurations and Steven Erikson eventually confirmed one as mostly accurate; it can be found on various fan sites.* Inverted in Creator/HalClement's science fiction novel ''Literature/MissionOfGravity''. Clement created a globe of the planet Mesklin and wrote the story around it, but the book didn't include a map.* ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'' has a map, but does not follow the "if it's on the map, the characters will go there" rule of most fantasy; many places that are mentioned or visited are not detailed on the map even if they're in the geographic area.* The ''Literature/{{Noob}}'' novels. The only media of the franchise that shows the whole thing.* ''[[Literature/ThursdayNext One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing]]'' has a map of the [=BookWorld=] as it stands after the [[CosmicRetcon version update]] that gave it some actual geography.* ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'' -- particularly apt, as the map exists in-game as part of the mysterious tollbooth's appurtenances.* Though not a fantasy series, each book of the ''Literature/RedMarsTrilogy'' comes with a map of Mars with the locations of various towns mapped out. The map also updates from book to book, showing the changes wrought by [[{{Terraforming}} terraformation]].* The ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' books always have a map of the journey that the heroes will be taking. The map generally includes every place they'll be visiting along the way.** It's interesting to compare the variations of the maps' depictions of Mossflower Wood (the location of Redwall Abbey) over time. Some general ideas remain consistent, but others (such as how big/powerful the River Moss is) vary, and the further away from the Abbey things get more impermanent (such as the mountain range between Mossflower and Salamandastron, or the giant lake located far in the south).** The biggest offender for inconsistency are the maps from ''Mattimeo'' and ''Loamhedge'', which depict the abbey ruins as being on a huge plateau to the southeast that is nowhere to be seen on other maps. Even those two maps have trouble deciding which side of the ravine has the bell and badger rocks.* ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'' includes a map of Earwa, the continent upon which all the action takes place. * The ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' series has maps, which show places destroyed in earlier books or, in one of the prequels, a place that didn't exist then.* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' series of books contain maps of The Wide Green World, becoming grander in scale in each book as the characters do more and more travelling. The maps are based on, but not particularly close to, the eastern half of the USA, particularly Ohio.* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has several for the different continents. However it doesn't completely show any of the continents, reflecting limitations in the Middle Ages.* Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' books have a map. At first it covers only the Bellwoods and immediate environs, with an added portion east of Zaryt's Teeth, because that's where the story is focused. (And true to form, while not every place on the Bellwoods map is visited, almost all the ones east of the Teeth are.) Book three introduces a whole new expanded map of the whole world which afterward never changes--although each subsequent book usually includes a secondary map showing what's 'just off the edge' or expanding on a small region.* ''Franchise/StarWars'' got the Fantasy World Map treatment in form of "The Essential Atlas", which is just what it is. The authors had to not only go through the [[Franchise/StarWars six movies]], but also the [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse TV shows, comic books, novels, e-stories and video games]]. All in all this encompasses to a Fantasy [[TheVerse Galaxy]] Map.** By 2000, the StarWars Galaxy had a map establishing the key regions and locations for a couple dozens of major planets. By 2010, it had a full Atlas, with over '''60 astro-maps''' and precise locations of over '''4,500''' planets.** The ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' series included a galaxy map marked with key star systems and regions in its hardcover editions. The black swathe showing the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] conquests was updated as the series progressed.* The ''[[Literature/TheSteerswoman Steerswoman]]'' books have a world map, as befits their fantasy trappings. Since those trappings cover a chewy science-fictional center with lots of exploration, the map gets more filled in as the series goes on.* ''The Literature/SwordOfTruth'' had one... because [[ExecutiveMeddling the publisher insisted]]. Goodkind didn't see the need. He drew the map himself, updated it once for the second book, and never changed it again even when the story went way beyond its borders.* The book ''[[Literature/TakeBackTheSkies Take Back the Skies]]'' contains a map of the fictional world of Tellus, including the thick, tumultuous storms that surround its islands.* Orson Scott Card's ''Literature/TheTalesOfAlvinMaker'' books all include a map of the wildly alternate early-19th-Century North America in which the novels are set.* Fiona Patton's Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm contains a map in each book, which unmistakeably depicts the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture British Isles]]. Due to [[IstanbulNotConstantinople alternate names]] such as Albangate for St. Albans and Halmouth for Falmouth, it's possible to follow the protagonists' journeys even without the maps (which is good as the maps are small and only show major locations).* Wilbert Awdry, creator of ''ThomasTheTankEngine,'' was forced to map out Thomas's 14-mile railway line to prove to his children that a story involving a race between a train and a bus had an equal number of obstacles to both parties. Realizing it could be useful as a means of enforcing continuity he kept it, and decided to expand on it, resulting in him dropping approximately 3000 square miles of fictional island (the Island Of Sodor) into the Irish Sea off the coast of the UK. He then spent decades creating a complete political, social, geological, industrial and linguistic 'Tolkien-lite' history of the Island in collaboration with his historian brother (just for fun!)... and then they got said history published as a book over which collectors now fight to the death. Awesome.* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is the TropeCodifier. WordOfGod states that showing the maps in the FilmOfTheBook was helpful in doing all the required exposition to make the story make sense without seeming contrived.** And before it, ''Literature/TheHobbit'', with two maps.** ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' also includes a map, although there was at least one other, quite different, version Tolkien created for Beleriand besides the one actually published.** Viciously parodied in the 1969 paperback ''Literature/BoredOfTheRings'', whose map of "Lower Middle Earth" includes such features as "The Legendary Drillingrigs", "The Land of the Knee-walking Turkeys", "The Islets of the Langerhans", "The Tiny X-Shaped Forest", and a body of water shaped like the profile of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon called "The Bay of Milhous". It also includes a compass rose with the directions Up, Down, Right (pointing left) and Left (pointing right). (This last may be an intentional ShoutOut to the original maps of Oz -- see below.) Fortunately for the competency-challenged cast, they didn't have to visit ''every'' labeled spot on it, and those they do visit don't have to be in geographical proximity.* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'' notes that if you see a map at the start of a novel, you can expect to "go to every damn place on it." The book itself has a map which is very obviously Europe upside-down, with all the countries given anagrammatic names.* Brin's ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'' series is another science fiction example.* Erin Hunter's ''Literature/WarriorCats'' and ''Literature/SeekerBears'' series both have two two-page maps per book: One is the "animal view" map, which is more decorative, having houses and trees and everything drawn out, and labeling it with the animals' names for landmarks. The second is a "human view" map, which labels the landmarks with human names. It also looks more like a proper map: rather than drawing the forest, there is a map key, and it just uses the symbol for "tree" lots of times.* ''Literature/WatershipDown'' has a map, and is fantasy, but it takes place in England and the map is of a real area.* The ''Literature/WellWorld'' novels by Jack Chalker are a sci-fi example, but also something of a subversion as the Well World is composed almost entirely of tessellated hexagons, the edges of which define not only the borders of the various "nations" but also the larger bodies of water.* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has one for the Westlands, and the Westlands only, as about 99% of the story takes place there. A [[AllThereInTheManual Manual text]] was released that includes a map of the whole world. This map is useless to the actual story, but looking at it does reveal that the planet is Earth after massive geographical change, and the Westlands are in what used to be Europe.* The map of the continent Pyrrhia in ''Literature/WingsOfFire'', which is shaped like a huge dragon. * Creator/AndreNorton's early ''WitchWorld'' novels had a small world map drawn by Jack Gaughan, showing the three main kingdoms with the ocean to the west. In some of the later novels there are two maps covering a much wider area, one of which depicts the lands on either side of the western ocean, and the other depicting the rest of the eastern continent.* Notably averted in ''Literature/TheWitcher'' series: no canon map of the Continent has ever been released by the author, so the large number of maps found on the net are all fan-made approximations based on the geographical detail given in the books. Not even the maps featured in the [[VideoGame/TheWitcher video]] [[VideoGame/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings games]] are canon, though WordOfGod is that they are "reasonably accurate".* Parodied in Piers Anthony's ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' books by using the state of Florida as the map of Xanth.** He went on to use Italy, Greece and Korea in later installments in the series, which was {{hand wave}}d with the explanation that Xanth connects with the real world at multiple places and time periods, but most of the novels use modern Florida as the point where Earth connects to Xanth.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' shows a map of Westeros in the opening credits each episode. Although the map doesn't change, the particular places the camera focuses on do depending on where the characters are for each episode.* ''Series/TheLegendOfDickAndDom'' shows a map of [[ToiletHumor Bottom World]] (conveniently 4:3 shape) over the opening credits, and also uses it during episodes form time to time- both in a mundane way to show where the protagonists are going, but also used for jokes, like LampshadeHanging when they can't afford to film anything and doing a little animation on the map instead.* ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'' also has a map thoughtfully provided for the viewers' enjoyment, on the wall of Snow White Memorial Prison, so that both the hapless heroes TrappedInAnotherWorld and the viewers can learn exactly what the Nine Kingdoms look like. Unlike most versions of the fantasy map, it displays places which are never visited in the miniseries, since the story remains confined to the Fourth Kingdom (with brief forays into the Third and Ninth). It also has the amusing location marker "You Are Imprisoned Here" -- this becomes a slight RunningGag in the {{Novelization}} with a map in Kissing Town marked "You Are Romantically Here" -- and has the interesting feature of being remarkably similar in outlines to Europe... a feature which has led to some interesting EpilepticTrees among the fandom, ranging from [[AlternateHistory the Nine Kingdoms having diverged from our timeline centuries ago]] to our world being a non-magical, cursed offshoot of the Kingdoms.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]* ''Pinball/PopeyeSavesTheEarth'' has the Geomap, which shows the five regions Popeye must visit — Aphrodesia, Fashionation, L'Eagleland, Pandamonia, and the Sushi Sea.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Radio]]* Obviously you can't actually include a map in a radio show, but ''Radio/RadioTimes'' published a spoof map as part of a feature promoting Creator/TheBBC's fantasy parody series ''[[IncrediblyLamePun Hordes of the Things]]''. When the series was eventually issued on CD it included all of the ''Radio/RadioTimes'' material including the map as a fold-out insert.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' worlds ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'', the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'', ''Birthright''...** The maps of the ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' setting are notable for almost always being covered in a hexagonal grid to assist the Dungeon Master in determining travel times, or something like that.** The maps in the TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}} boxed set were made on a hex grid. The maps in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' boxed set had no grid on them, but did come with transparent plastic overlays with a hex grid on them.* Back in the '90s, Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast released several maps of the world of Dominaria, the main setting of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', focusing on the continents of Aerona, Terisiare, and Jamuraa. There is also a globe of the entire world hidden away somewhere in [=WotC=] HQ, though no one outside the company has ever seen it. Since then, however, the only map they've published is a very sketchy one of the continent of Otaria. Today they just throw out a new setting every year with no indication of what's where in relation to everything else.** Pete Venters (creator of the aforementioned globe) did release [[http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Image:Dominariaglobe.jpg a map based on it]]. It only shows one hemisphere and there's a few clouds, but Aerona and other land masses are recognizable.*** [[http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Image:Kamigawa.jpg There is a Kamigawa map]], it just shows a small, isolated part of the world.** It's also worth noting that there is no complete map of Dominaria. Almost all the maps show a single continent, and the most comprehensive map we have shows only a part of the northern hemisphere. Then there are the continents with ''no map at all'', which we have to rely on the background story to fathom where they're located. Damn you, Pete.* Drawing up the map is a vital part of group creation in ''TabletopGame/OnMightyThews''.* Thoroughly deconstructed by Rich Burlew of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' fame in his (sadly unfinished) ''The New World'' series, where he worldbuilds from scratch, basing his map on real rules of geology and then allowing its geography to influence the cultures and countries he overlays onto it.* Warhammer has a truly massively detailed [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110623215028/warhammerfantasybattle/images/d/d4/World_warhammer.jpg one]] that also looks oddly familiar** Each Warhammer Armies book also contains a more detailed full-page map of the homeland of the race it covers (The Empire, Ulthuan, Naggaroth, the Mountains of Mourn etc.). Even the Daemons of Chaos book has a stylised madman's envisioning of the parallel-dimension hell-realm where daemons come from, which cannot be mapped normally as it does not conform to the usual laws of space and time.** Likewise, Warhammer 40,000 has plenty of galactic maps and a few maps of individual planets or areas thereof. Most detailed perhaps being the ones of Armageddon's two main continents in various Armageddon War-related materials. The Horus Heresy novel Mechanicum has a map of the (real) Tharsis region of Mars, with all its (fictional!) 31st millennium locations marked. [[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]* Strangereal, a [[AlternateUniverse parallel Earth]] in which most of the ''AceCombat'' series takes place, has its own [[http://www.imaginaryatlas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/strangereal.jpg world map.]]* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' has an in-game map [[WideOpenSandbox that you must uncover throughout the game]]. Here is a [[http://images.roosterteeth.com/images/4ad6590960ef2_bighugemap.jpg complete copy]].* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has a map that you use whenever you choose which location you want to go to next. It's not a real world map, since it only shows one country (Ferelden), which is part of a much larger world (Thedas). Creator/BioWare also released a true world map that shows all of Thedas (see it [[http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/File:ThedasMap.jpg here]]), but this map does not appear in the game itself.** The limited edition also has a {{Feelie}} map printed on cloth.* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', which [[WordOfGod its creator]] describes as a "fantasy world generator", naturally starts off by creating one of these through ProceduralGeneration. Unlike a lot of fantasy authors, however, he [[ShownTheirWork read some geology and meteorology textbooks first]].* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls Adventures: Redguard, VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind, VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion,'' and their related [[ExpansionPackWorld expansion packs]] come with paper maps (a cloth map, for ''Redguard'') packaged in the boxes. They are designed to look like someone who actually lives in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''' world drew them -- ''Oblivion's'' map even has a watermark and signature.** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' also comes with a rather detailed paper map of the province.* All ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games have maps wherein, due to the linear plot, you are forced to visit almost every location on it simply to accomplish the story. The few places you don't visit can be found with simple exploring once the world becomes a WideOpenSandbox.* Unlike most roleplaying games, most ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' installments (with the exception of Sacred Stones and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'') don't let you move around the world map yourself, so when it shows you the map it obeys this trope.* In ''VideoGame/GemsOfWar'', there's a PointAndClickMap of the world on which the icons of the various kingdoms you can travel to are displayed, featuring the usual grasslands, forests, mountains, and such. Parts of it which you can't access yet are partly covered in cloud, so there's an aspect of pushing back the frontiers (although you can see the rough shape of the land anyway).* The ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' games have a world map you can access by hitting R while outside of cities and dungeons. ''The Lost Age'' was sold with a paper map of Weyard and a character relationship chart. ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'''s map of Angara contradicts most of what was established in the first two games, due to the events of the first two games causing the world to change rather drastically. It's still changing 30 years after the fact, which is when ''Dark Dawn'' takes place. Judging by the shape of Angara and surrounds, Weyard is slowly becoming Earth.* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' has ''three'' separate maps, one for each of its stand-alone campaigns, with the [[ExpansionPack Eye of the North]] expansion nearly doubling the size of the original Tyrian Map. Each map has its own separate continent, and players switch from one to another when they travel from to different continents. Each full-sized map only shows an apparent section of the continent (and only half of that is actually explorable) suggesting that the world is actually very large (and leaving room for infinite expansions).* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy'' has a poster map/game manual in one. The map is bordered with a long passage written in the in-game writing system; those who bother to translate it will find it's full of references to the first game and future storylines.* Besides having MedievalStasis the Hyrule seen in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' is stuck with this.* ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' features a profusion of maps and designs describing its miniature worlds, which are themselves literary descriptions made reality.* The [[XtremeKoolLetterz Urth]] map of ''VideoGame/PrimalRage'' is shaped in the form of a ''Tyrannosaurus'' skull. With flames in the mouth.* ''RavenmarkScourgeOfEstellion'' includes a map of Eclisse, the game world. In-between missions, the player is shown his army's position on the map.* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'', Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary includes a map that shows which stages you've cleared, with the option of going back to repeat those that weren't wiped out (although all stages can eventually be replayed after one completes the Subspace Emissary for the first time).* Many of the games in the ''Franchise/{{Ultima}}'' series included actual cloth maps of the world as {{Feelies}}. Useful for navigation in-game, but they were labeled in a pseudo-runic cypher.* All three ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' games had World Maps in them. Azeroth's a [[ChaosArchitecture constantly changing place]], though, since none of the maps looked [[RetCon like the other]].** VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft makes frequent use of the map of the world (in addition to always being able to pop up the map of the area you're in, when you use the flying taxi service you click on your destination in a map of the whole continent). Each expansion has changed the maps, with Cataclysm replacing the maps of the original two continents and all the others adding a continent-sized area.** The ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series, also from Creator/BlizzardEntertainment, has the same problem -- the map, which is supposed to be of the same continent over a span of about thirty years, changes rather drastically from one game to the next.* ''VideoGame/ZanZarahTheHiddenPortal'' has a variation: the in-game map is presented as an actual paper map, of which you initially only have the bottom-left piece. As you progress through the game, you recover more pieces that are attached to the map in a jigsaw puzzle manner until it is complete by the endgame. A marker on the map additionally tracks your current location, but only if you have the corresponding piece, otherwise you are wandering through terra incognita (conveniently, though, the map piece depicting each region can be found very close to your most likely first entrance point to said region).[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]* ''Webcomic/BitsFair'' has a map [[http://bitsfair.com/map/ here]], featuring the subcontinent where story is set.* ''Webcomic/LeifAndThorn'' has a map covering [[http://erinptah.deviantart.com/art/Ceannis-The-Small-Map-591923507 most of Ceannis and some of the surrounding countries]].* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' includes some maps of Stuffaroth [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080816 before]] and [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080907 after]] its expansion pack during the "[[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080728 Years of Yarncraft]]" storyline.* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'': The Fantasy theme has [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/cast/fantasy_map_1600.jpg a map]] on the cast page showing the various locations mentioned or visited so far in the comic.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original]]* [[http://eotbeholder.deviantart.com/art/The-Only-Fantasy-World-Map-245738593 The Only Fantasy World Map You'll Ever Need]] and [[http://sarithus.deviantart.com/art/Map-of-Clichea-532220700 Map of Clichéa]] at [[http://www.deviantart.com Deviant Art]] parody this.* ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'' has had many world maps due to the stories taking place during different eras. The map of the world during the most recent Third Age can be seen [[http://www.thegamersalliance.net/forums/showthread.php?t=554 here]].* The map of the {{Pokegirls}} world qualifies, despite technically being Earth 300 years in the future. Due to the horrendous Revenge War in the early 21st century, and later happenings: Australia has been fragmented; something did one hell of a number on Africa; Europe & Asia are barely recognizable as such; North America has been split in two, lost the southeast US and most of Canada, and has been separated from South America; and South America has had a huge chunk blown off. The map can be seen [[http://www.angelfire.com/mn3/pokegirls/leagues.html here]].* ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'', an {{Animesque}} CGI production from Creator/RoosterTeeth, created and animated by Creator/MontyOum, has one of the world of Remnant. An interesting note is that two of the landmasses in the final version of the map closely resemble dragons (both Eastern and Western styled), having serpentine-like bodies with what resembles wings, horns and jaws. This is mostly coincidence: Monty came up with the map by spilling some coffee on a napkin and folding it up a few times.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has one for the Land of Ooo.* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' shows it in the opening, and [[AllThereInTheManual the website]] even shows where the group is in each episode.** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' shows the same map in the first opening before zooming into Republic City, the main setting of the series.* On ''WesternAnimation/BeanyAndCecil'', Captain Huffenpuff would show a map of the team's latest adventure. The focal points of the map are labeled with some outrageous puns.* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uj5l0C_W9Ps/Vh9gxWnaXKI/AAAAAAAAA98/kYLCGxpkHmI/s1600/eq_map.jpg a map of Equestria]], and the journey to A.K. Yearling’s house in the episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E4DaringDont Daring Don’t]]'' can be [[http://cheezburger.com/7946296576 retraced on it]].* ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' often shows a map of Meridian early in the series in a lot of key scenes, such as when Phobos is planning his next assault or the rebels are planning their next strike.[[/folder]]